HMS Zulu (1909)

Zulu was one of five Tribal-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in January 1908 under the 1907–1908 shipbuilding programme for the Royal Navy.[2][3] The Tribal-class destroyers were to be powered by steam turbines and use oil-fuel rather than coal, and be capable of 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph), but detailed design was left to the builders, which meant that individual ships of the class differed greatly.[4][5]

Zulu was 285 feet 0 inches (86.87 m) long overall and 280 feet 1+1⁄4 inches (85.38 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 27 feet 0 inches (8.23 m) and a draught of 9 feet 4+1⁄2 inches (2.86 m). Normal displacement was 1,017 long tons (1,033 t), with deep load displacement 1,136 long tons (1,154 t).[6] Six Yarrow boilers fed steam to Parsons steam turbines, giving 15,500 shaft horsepower (11,600 kW) and driving three propeller shafts. The main high-pressure turbine drove the centre shaft, with the outer shafts being fitted with low-pressure turbines, together with cruise and astern turbines. The outtakes from the boilers were fed to four funnels. Range was 1,630 nautical miles (3,020 km; 1,880 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[3][6][7][8]

Gun armament consisted of two 4-inch (102 mm) guns,[lower-alpha 1] with two 18-inch (460 mm) torpedo tubes comprising the ship's torpedo armament.[8] The ship had a complement of 71.[6]

Zulu was laid down at Hawthorn Leslie's Hebburn, Tyneside shipyard on 18 August 1908. Construction was slowed by industrial action, and the ship was not launched until 16 September 1909,[3] with the ship crossing the River Tyne on launching, colliding with a jetty.[10] After successful sea trials in December 1909, Zulu was commissioned on 19 March 1910.[3]

On commissioning, Zulu joined the 1st Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet. She remained part of the 1st Flotilla until 1913, when she transferred to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla,[3][11] based at Portsmouth.[12] In October that year, the Tribals were officially designated the F class, and as such the letter "F" was painted on the bows of the class.[4][13] In February 1914, the Tribals (including Zulu), whose range was too short for effective open sea operations, were sent to Dover, forming the 6th Destroyer Flotilla.[4][11]

On the outbreak of the First World War the 6th Flotilla formed the basis of the Dover Patrol.[14] Zulu captured the German sailing ship Perhns on 5 August 1914, and collided with sister ship Crusader in both August and September that year.[15] On 24 April 1916, Zulu took place in a large scale operation off the Belgian coast to lay mines and nets, in an attempt to limit use of the ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge to German U-boats. Zulu and Nubian laid lines of dan-buoys to mark to positions for the minefields and nets to be laid.[16] In total, 1,565 mines were laid by the minelayers Princess Margaret, Orvietto, Paris and Biarritz. The minefield probably caused the loss of one U-Boat, UB-13,[17] although at the time it was thought that four or five German submarines had been sunk. The destroyer Melpomene was badly damaged by shellfire from German coast-defence batteries, while one drifter, Clover Bank, was sunk by a mine.[18]

On 8 November 1916, Zulu was sailing from Dover to Dunkirk when she struck a mine, laid by UC-1, that exploded under the ship's engine-room. Three men were killed, and the ship's stern broke off and sunk. Zulu was towed to safety in Calais by the French destroyer Capitaine Mehl.[15][19][20]

It was decided to join the front end of Zulu with the stern of Nubian, another Tribal-class destroyer that had had her bows blown off by a torpedo during the Battle of Dover Strait on the night of 26/27 October 1916. Although these ships were not of identical design, the two sections were joined at Chatham Dockyard to produce a new destroyer, Zubian that commissioned on 7 June 1917.[4]